Helping Hand
by MorbidAesthetic
Summary: After the events of Weirdmageddon, Bill Cipher is left as a helpless little human. He runs away from Gravity Falls, and ends up on the streets, dying, until Dipper comes to save him. Billdip, Human!Bill, Older Dipper Pines. Collection of oneshots from the same AU.
1. Helping Hand

He turned and began to walk away, his lean form hunched over very slightly. He was soaking wet, his black sleeves sticking to his arms and his yellow shirt so wet that he wrang it out constantly and it was still full of water. His black jeans stuck to his legs, and his sneakers nearly slipped on almost every wet surface they touched.

His blonde hair was plastered to his head, and his eyes were on the ground, not bothering to look up at anyone, knowing that they would just either scowl or laugh at him, instead of caring about a teen walking down the road.

His bag was soaked, and he knew everything inside it would be too. He reached into it and pulled out a few quarters and went to a phone booth to make a call.

He was about to push in the quarters, but paused once he realized what time it was. It was 11 PM, and it was late, especially for the person he was trying to call. Oh well, maybe he'd pick up anyway. He dialed the number and was put through.

On the third ring, he picked up. It sounded like he'd just woken up, and Bill almost wished he'd never called at all.

"Hello?" A sleepy-sounding voice answered the phone.

"Pine Tree?" He said, and hated how weak his voice sounded. He hadn't had anything to eat in a few days, and it was taking a toll combined with all the walking he was forced to do everyday.

"Bill? What are you doing, calling me from a pay phone?" He asked, and his voice held a snatch of worry that Bill hung on to.

Bill nearly hung up the phone then and there, but he sighed and continued the conversation. "I'm… I'm… " He started but then quickly hung up the phone. He couldn't do it. He couldn't ask Pine Tree for help. Not after what happened.

He stayed in the phone booth, mostly because it wasn't wet or particularly cold, so he had a bit of shelter. The thunder made him jump all night, along with the lightning, and he didn't get any sleep. Eventually a cop pushed him out of there in the morning, with thankfully the rain gone, so he continued walking.

He didn't know where exactly he was going, he just knew it was away from the Pines. He couldn't go back there after what happened. He kept walking, and he started to daydream to pass the time.

It was a nice scene, where it wasn't wet, and his shoes weren't worn through, and he didn't have to have a bandage over one eye. There were no druggies to try to steal, rape, or kill him. There were no cops to push him out of every little slip of happiness that happened to him. It was warm, and his stomach wasn't yelling and gnawing at him, trying to eat him from the inside.

But even better, there was Pine Tree there. He didn't look at him like he was some kind of freak, it was almost like they were friends. Almost. He sat down on a couch, and it was soft and comfortable. There was food on the table, and a bed in the corner.

Bill was jolted back into reality when someone tried to snatch at his leg. It was another druggie, and they looked like they were on withdrawal. It was a female this time, which meant she was probably a thief, prostitute, or both. Her eyes were wide, and she was even skinnier than Bill himself was, which probably meant that they were a heroin addict, which made sense. Heroin prices had skyrocketed, and every druggie that had been on heroin had tried to rob him.

He kicked the woman, and her already broken glasses snapped in half. He ran as she was stunned, not wanting another injury like the one with his eye. That had taken weeks to heal over and scar, and he couldn't see out of it anymore. He still wore the bandage, because there was no point in taking it off.

He tried to run as long as he could, but he had grown rather weak since he had last eaten. He was forced to stop after a few minutes, much to his dismay. He tried to run faster, but he collapsed, his last thought before blacking out a hope that he wouldn't wake up.

He had a nightmare. It was dark, and wet, and there was nearly nothing in sight. It appeared to be the woods around Gravity Falls, but it was somehow… creepy. He wasn't going to lie, he liked things dark and abnormal, but this was different. It had an atmosphere of unease that settled over the place like a wet blanket.

"Cipher." Came a voice that sounded like a hundred different people at once. It went silent after the single word. It sounded like a command, but nothing was happening around him.

No sooner had the thought entered his mind when a dozen hands came out of the forest, holding him in place. He was reminded of when he was raped, when he was overpowered the first time. Remembering that, he fought tooth and nail, refusing to be made someone's bitch a second time.

The hands were strong, and they held him in place. Suddenly another pair of hands came out, but they didn't latch onto him. They traced his face, his body, before trying to undress him. He let out a scream, before jolting awake. He could hear someone screaming after a few minutes, before realizing it was him.

He shut his mouth quickly, looking around him. He took deep breaths to get rid of the feeling of the dream, and he tried to calm down. He took inventory of his things to make sure no one had stolen anything. He found a boot tread on his pants where someone had stepped on him, but he wasn't dead or stolen from, so he was incredibly lucky, save for the fact he woke up, to his dismay.

He tried to get up, but he was still so tired, even from his blackout. He realized he was surrounded with blood, and noticed his arms were all cut up. He pulled out the bandages he saved after he was injured the first time, and pulled up his sleeve. There were several cuts there, and he bandaged them all, pulling his sleeve over them. He did the same for the other arm.

He stood, this time with more determination, and managed to stay on his feet, even after feeling light headed for a few minutes. He started walking again, staggering slightly, but he wasn't sure if it was from starvation, exhaustion, or both.

He finally managed to find a few dollars in mostly quarters and dimes. He went into the nearest food store, and bought as much food as he could. He ate as much as he had, and it still wasn't enough to fill his stomach. He knew he needed food, but he didn't have any money to get more. He refused to eat out of the garbage, out of pride, but he knew he would probably have to soon.

He walked along, keeping his head down, when a car started following him. He noticed after a few blocks and turned, mostly to make sure it was following him and he wasn't overreacting about a simple car on the street. It turned with him, twice, and he wanted to run, but it was all he had to keep trudging on the sidewalk, much less running through grass and up hills, or through parking lots and up stairs.

He noticed the person inside had brown hair and a baseball cap on, but he couldn't make out any faces through the tinted windows. The car followed him through the afternoon and into the evening, and he tried to lose it at least three times. A car following him was a dangerous thing, he knew that much. He walked into an alleyway to sleep for the night, too tired to try to run from the car, when the car door opened.

His eyes widened as the driver walked into the alleyway. He had been right, the newcomer did have brown hair and a baseball cap on. But now that he saw their face, he shrank farther into the corner of the brick at the end of the alleyway, counting on the shadow to hide him from the newcomer.

* * *

Dipper looked around, looking for Bill. He knew he was here, he just knew. He followed a person that looked like him, but was unhealthy, skinny, bloody, and beat-up. He didn't know a Bill Cipher like that, but he still followed the person. He had a hunch it was Bill, and he was fairly certain he was right. He saw a figure huddled in the corner, and he walked over there.

It was the person he'd been following all day. He was a teen, not much older than himself, and he looked damp, like he'd been out in the rain the night before, which was highly likely. He was extremely skinny, and he had a bandage over one eye. His clothes were ripped, and filthy. He looked like he hadn't had a shower in weeks, and his hair, which was probably blond, had been turned to brownish black.

"Bill?" He asked, frowning as he stooped down on his knees to get to eye level with the other person. They flinched, and inched farther away from him.

"Go away, Pine Tree." They said, and Dipper knew it was Bill when he said that. He had been the only one to ever call him that.

"I'm going to help you. You called me last night." He said, trying to pull Bill to his feet.

"I shouldn't have woken you up. I should have just left you alone." He said, resisting him. He rested his head on his knees and the other knew just how tired the other was. He picked up the homeless teen bridal-style, knowing that he was too weak and tired to fight him.

"Let's go, Dorito. I'm not just leaving you here. You're coming back to the shack." He said, ignoring the other's weak attempts at getting out of his arms.

"Why are you helping me? I tried to destroy you, and all your friends. I don't deserve your help. Leave me alone." He said, somehow breaking out of his arms. He stood tall for a moment before collapsing, his legs not being able to hold him up anymore. He fell to his knees, and Dipper heard him hit the ground with what sounded like a small crack.

"Bill. You're starving, you're exhausted, you're all cut up. Your eye is messed up. Let me help you." He said, frowning. He went to pick up the teen again, but Bill pulled out a knife, ready to defend himself.

"Leave me alone." He said, holding it between him and Dipper. His hand was shaking from the two-pound weight of the knife he was holding. He saw Pine Tree step back a bit, before his face hardened in determination.

"Fine. But I'm still going to sit here with you while you die of starvation or sleep deprivation or whatever other problems you have going on." He said, folding his arms and sitting down in the alleyway. Bill was going to argue, but saw his resolution and sat down next to him, determined not to accept Pine Tree's help, even though he knew he needed it.

Unfortunately for Bill, he blacked out from exhaustion soon enough, and Dipper carried him to the car, put him in the backseat with a blanket over him, and started to drive the three hours back to the Mystery Shack. The teen in the back slept the whole way, warm with the blanket.

Dipper walked in, carrying Bill, who was still asleep. He opened the door quietly, and when he saw Ford and Stan give him a questioning look, he shook his head and motioned for them to be quiet. He walked upstairs and put him in Mabel's bed, who was away at college.

He handcuffed him to the bed so he couldn't leave before Dipper woke up, and then he got some sleep himself, as it was getting late. He climbed into bed and turned out the light, falling asleep rather quickly.

He woke up the next morning to swearing and struggling. He sat up to find Bill trying to get loose of the handcuffs that Dipper had put on his wrist. Dipper quickly got up when he saw that Bill's wrist was close to drawing blood from struggling.

"Bill, stop." He said, forcing the former demon to sit down on the bed, and then sat down next to him. He sighed as he watched Bill scowl at him, still muttering curses that would make a sailor blush.

"You just couldn't mind your own damn business, could you? You had to be a knight and save the fucking dying homeless teenager your uncles made. You couldn't just leave me alone." He said, nearly spitting out the words. Dipper sighed.

"I saved you because you were dying. You needed help. At least act a bit grateful, asshole." Dipper said, fed up with taking his insults. "Now come on. I'm going to watch you make those ribs disappear." He said, unlocking the teen and dragging him by his wrist to the table, where Stan was making food.

Bill started fighting harder as soon as he saw Stan. "Let me go! I don't need your help! You let me go right now! This is kidnapping!" He yelled, making threats and yelling profanity. Dipper ignored him and handcuffed him to a chair, taking a plate of food and placing it in front of him.

"Eat." He said, handing him a fork. Bill scowled, but ate the food put in front of him. It was obvious he was starving, and Dipper thought it was a wonder that he had any self restraint at all. Eventually he finished the plate, and Dipper put it in the sink, ready to face Stan.

"Why did you bring home the demon?" Stan asked. Ford walked in, took one look at Bill, and asked the same question.

"Because he needs help." Dipper said, folding his arms. Bill started to protest, but he was rewarded with a pancake shoved in his mouth to shut him up.

"He tried to kill us." Ford said, shaking his head disapprovingly. Dipper began to explain but was cut off. "No. We turned him into a human because he tried to take over the world. He doesn't deserve your help. Put him back wherever you found him." Ford said, his arms folded.

"So you want me to just put him back onto the street where he was starving, getting sick, getting cut up, and dying?" Dipper said, scowling. Ford's face softened a small bit as he looked at Bill, who had finished the pancake and was watching the conversation with mild interest. You could still see his ribs, as they were quite prominent. His eye was still covered with the dirty bandage, and he was still filthy.

"What happened to your eye?" Stan asked, and Bill looked away.

"It's nothing. I can't see out of it anymore." He said, without making eye contact.

"What happened that made you not see out of it?" Dipper asked, frowning.

"It's nothing." He said, shaking his head. But they could almost all see it written on his face, something traumatic had happened, and he had probably lost half his sight during the event.

"What happened to you?" Dipper asked, mostly to himself. Bill didn't look up, and they didn't press him.

"Fine. If you can get him cleaned up, and mostly healthy, he can stay, and work either with you or in the Mystery Shack." Ford said, surprisingly. He probably relented after seeing Bill and how he avoided them at all costs. How he seemed almost fragile, almost broken, like he was about to snap, or already had and was glued back together.

"Alright. Bill, come on." Dipper said, unlocking his wrist. He pushed him into the bathroom with a clean tee shirt and jeans, along with a pair of sneakers, and left him alone for about 15 minutes. He waited outside the door to make sure Bill didn't leave.

Fifteen minutes later, the door opened and Bill came out, dressed in the clothes that Dipper had supplied, which composed of a short sleeved Mystery Shack tee shirt and a pair of jeans. Dipper's eyes locked on the bandages that covered the blonde's forearms.

"I don't know where they came from. I woke up and I was all cut up." Bill said, noticing the other teen's stare.

"...Right. Come on, we need to have Stan show you where you will be working." He said, pulling the other teen along. Bill reluctantly followed, not really fighting this time.

"Hey, Pine Tree?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, Dorito."


	2. Falling

The wind blew against his face, blowing back his blonde locks. He stepped back a bit, or rather the wind pushed him back. It was rather high up, and he could briefly see Pine Tree at the edge. Bill tried to ask him what he was doing, but his words didn't reach far in the wind.

Now he took notice of where he was. He was on a large, tall building, it appeared, and it was very windy. He looked over the edge and noted how far away the asphalt was. He wondered how he even got up here, he didn't remember anything about an elevator or anything about going up many flights of stairs he would have had to go up to get this high up.

He started to walk over to Pine Tree, having to fight against the wind. The damn wind that kept pushing him back as he tried to go forward. He put his arms up to try to block it from his face, and it made a sort of makeshift shield.

"Pine Tree!" He yelled, trying to get the slightly smaller teen away from the ledge. Dipper didn't move, he just stood there, looking at the ground. There was a few bottles, like the ones pills came in, floating around in the wind."Pine Tree!" He yelled again, and this time the brunette did turn. His face was ashen, and his eyes were blank. They were usually so full of life, Bill didn't understand. What had happened to make Pine Tree deteriorate so quickly?

"Must be the wind." Dipper mumbled to himself, and Bill knew that the brunette couldn't see him or hear him. He was nothing but a ghost. He finally made it to him, and tried to pull him back from the ledge, but his arms went right through him. It was like being in the mindscape again. No one would see, hear, or touch him. He was a ghost.

He tried to get Pine Tree to go to sleep, so he could talk to him then. But too much adrenaline was going through him to get him to go to sleep. Bill wasn't able to do anything. He couldn't pull Dipper back from the ledge, he couldn't talk him down, Dipper didn't even see him. So what was he doing on the roof of a building, ready to jump?

"For you, Bill Cipher. I don't know why you did it, but hopefully we will meet again someday." He said, and with that, Dipper leaned back and fell off the roof of the building. Bill made a desperate snatch for him, but he went right through him, and he was forced to watch as Dipper fell and hit the concrete with a smack.

What did he do? Pine Tree had said something about not knowing why he did it. Was it because he had said something? No, it seemed more extreme than that. Think… he got it. He had probably killed himself before this. He had been thinking about it for weeks now, but he actually went through with it?! He mentally berated himself for doing something so stupid and causing Dipper to do the same stupid thing.

He walked to the same spot that Dipper had just been, and looked down. He saw what used to be Dipper's body. He jumped, letting the air flow around him as he fell like a brick. He landed gracefully, next to Dipper's body. He saw the dead eyes staring at him, almost as if they were blaming him for this end.

He woke up screaming. He was left like that for a few minutes before he managed to calm down and stop screaming. He found himself in the Mystery Shack, back in the small space that Ford and Stan allowed him to live in. He rationalized that it was only a nightmare, that those cold, dead eyes of Dipper's weren't real. That they were just part of the nightmare.

He sighed and laid back down, pulling the blanket up past his shoulders. He was about to fall asleep again when he heard footsteps coming to his room. He picked up the knife he had stolen, and put it up, ready to throw it at whatever threat was coming down the hallway.

The door opened to reveal Dipper, a concerned frown etched onto his face. Bill sighed and released the knife, allowing it to fall onto the floor with a clang, out of range of his foot and sliding under the bed.  
"Bill?" Dipper asked, coming into the room. "I heard you screaming."

"It was just another nightmare." He said quietly, sitting back down on the bed, Dipper sitting beside him.

"Tell me about it." Dipper said, his head leaning on the former demon's shoulder.

"You were there with me." He said.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Bad. Very bad."

"What happened?"

"We were on a roof of a tall building. You were standing on the edge of it. It was windy, so windy. I went over to you, but I was a ghost. You couldn't hear me, or see me. I couldn't touch you, to bring you away from the edge. You turned around, and you just looked depressed. I can't even imagine what made you that way. Then you said something about me, and then you jumped. After that, I realized I had done the same thing, but before you. So I jumped after you, to test my theory, and I was right. But I landed next to your body, and your eyes were just staring at me, blaming me, even though you were dead." He said, and his shoulders were shaking, though he wasn't crying yet.

"It wasn't your fault." Dipper said, putting his hand over the blonde's. "Even so, it was just a nightmare. Right?" He asked.

"It just… it felt so real…" Bill said, trailing off.

"You said that you had killed yourself before I had. Have you… have you ever thought about that in real life? Or just in nightmares?" Dipper asked gently.

"In real life…" He said quietly, hoping Pine Tree wouldn't hear him. Unfortunately, he did. Bill heard him give a little gasp and he felt Pine Tree's hand tighten on his. Bill shifted under Dipper's gaze.

"Why?" He asked.

"I don't know." Came the answer.

"Do you not have anything to stay for?"

"Not really."

"Can… can I give you one?"

"If you want to…" Bill said, and suddenly Dipper was kissing him. Pine Tree was kissing him. Bill was, for one in his life, stunned silent. Unfortunately, Dipper took his surprise as rejection, and started to apologize. Bill silenced him with another kiss.


	3. The Question Game

"Do you like being a human or a demon more?" Dipper asked, his head laying in Bill's lap. Bill was absentmindedly petting his head.

"I like being a demon for some things, a human for others." The former demon answered, shrugging his shoulders. "Am I as big a dickwad as when I was a demon?" He said, snickering.

The younger teen hit him lightly, chuckling. "Watch your mouth. And I would say not quite as much, but getting there." He laughed, as he saw Bill try to look mildly offended while failing miserably. "Why do you call me Pine Tree?"

"At first it was your hat, and then your last name just contributed to the effect." Bill said. "Why do you call me Dorito sometimes?"

"Because when you were still a demon you looked like a dorito." He said, taking his boyfriend's hand. "Why did you call me at 11 PM when you were on the streets?" Dipper felt Bill's hand tighten on his, and wondered if it was too personal a question. "You don't have to answer." He said quickly, hoping he hadn't upset him.

"I was desperate. I probably shouldn't have woken you up." He said quietly, rubbing his thumb over Dipper's hand.

"I'm glad you did." He said. "Otherwise I never would have found you." He leaned his face into Bill's stomach, remembering when he could count all his ribs without even trying.

"Why did you come find me?" Bill asked, taking his turn to ask a question in their game. He had often wondered this question, and it had reappeared many times. Dipper was quiet for a minute, thinking.

"Because I knew you wouldn't have called for something stupid. And I could hear it in your voice." He finally said. "You sounded like you were about to collapse."

"I couldn't remember the last time I'd eaten. I just kept walking, going nowhere." Bill said, remembering how his feet ached, but for some reason he'd kept walking.

"Why did you leave Gravity Falls?" Dipper asked, another question he'd been wondering about.

"Because I never wanted to see you and your friends again." Bill said, and didn't notice the sad expression that crossed Dipper's face. "I hated you and your friends then." Dipper squeezed tighter onto Bill's hand, and Bill realized what he'd said. "I don't feel that way now." He said quickly, but the damage had been done.

"You… hated us? Hated me?" He said, and looked to be on the verge of tears. Bill felt guilty and leaned down to kiss Dipper's forehead.

"Not anymore." He said, trying to make the sad expression leave Dipper's face.

"Are you sure?" Dipper said, feeling small.

Bill smiled at him. "I'm sure." He said, and felt a bit of relief when he saw Dipper give him a small smile back. "Do you want to continue playing the game?" He asked. Dipper nodded.

They had been playing a game where one of them would ask a question, and the other would answer. Then they would switch. They'd started out with stupid questions, but they were now getting more comfortable with the game.

"Why did the Stans let me stay here?" Bill asked. Ford was still cautious around him, but Stan was pretty used to Bill by now, after he'd been living there for a few months. At first, he'd avoided them at all costs, but after a few weeks, he gradually started breaking down the walls he'd built up, with Dipper's help.

"Because you needed help. They're good people, they weren't just going to let you die on the street. And neither was I." He said, smiling up at him. Bill cocked his head to the side, a bit confused, but he took the answer.

"Alright," He said. "Your turn."

"Okay. What happened to you that made you blind in one eye?" He asked, and heard Bill sigh. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to." He said, trying to backtrack.

"It's okay, I'll answer. It happened when I was… I was… raped…" He said, looking away. Dipper could feel his discomfort. Bill covered his stomach with his forearms, something he did when he was feeling nervous.

"You were raped?" Dipper asked quietly. Bill nodded ever so slightly, his blond hair falling in his face a bit. The younger teen brushed it away, sighing a bit as the other refused to look him in the eyes. "I'm sorry, Bill, I'm so sorry... " He said, his voice cracking a little bit.

"When I tried to fight him, he stabbed me, and hit me in the eye. Now I can't see out of it." He said, trying to keep a passive expression, and failing. Dipper sat up, out of his lap, and Bill closed in around himself even more. Dipper hugged him, in an attempt to keep the walls that he had worked so hard to break down. It was almost as if Dipper could feel the walls trying to lock him out, trying to cut him off.

"You're okay now. That bastard can't get to you now." Dipper said, his voice strained from trying to keep steady. He held Bill tightly, in a way that said that he was trying to keep both himself and Bill together. And then he felt it.

Bill was crying. It was the first time Dipper had ever seen him cry, and it wouldn't be the last. Bill cried silently, his shoulders trembling a bit and his head low as to obscure his face. Dipper hugged him tighter, and felt Bill's breath hitch as he came up to hug him back.

Dipper regretted asking the question. He regretted making Bill cry, however accidental it was. So he just held the teen, held him until he eventually pulled himself together.

"I… I tried to… fi-fight back… but… h-he had a partner… and they… they took turns… with me… and I was… held down… and everyone… just looked the other w-way… they di-didn't tr-try to help me…" Bill said, hiccuping. He wiped at his face.

"It's okay. They can't get to you now." Dipper said softly, petting the teen's blond hair. It seemed to calm him down a bit, and Dipper was willing to do anything to calm him down at the moment.

It started to rain, and within minutes they were soaked. Dipper knew they should go inside, but he stayed outside with the former demon, who had gone silent. Eventually Dipper stood, and when the blonde didn't do anything, he picked him up, bridal style, and carried him inside, taking him to his room. He put him down on his bed, and laid next to him, wet clothes and all.

They slept there the rest of the night. When Dipper woke up, Bill wasn't there. He sighed and put a clean shirt on, leaving his wrinkled jeans on. He walked downstairs, and they were all at the table, his two Grunkles and Bill, oddly silent. Maybe the pair of twins could tell something was off. They looked up as Dipper came into the room, and gestured to his seat, remaining silent.

Dipper just ate in silence, stealing glances at Bill every once in awhile. He looked tired, and disheveled. He also looked depressed, and Dipper wondered if that was a product of last night. It probably was. Dipper once again regretted asking the stupid question.

As soon as Bill finished, he left to go help with his shift at the shack, to allow Wendy to eat some breakfast. He was quiet, and even Wendy noticed something was off with the blonde. She asked Dipper about it, and he just shrugged, not really wanting to go into it.

Dipper went to go ask Bill himself about it. He asked Wendy if Bill could go on break, and she nodded and switched with him. Dipper took him outside.

"Listen, I'm sorry about last night, if I upset you." He said, tugging on the hem of his shirt. "I didn't mean to make you sad, or depressed, or whatever emotion this is now."

"It's not your fault, Dipper." Bill said. He kissed him, then went into the woods. Later, it would take Dipper hours to finally find him.


End file.
